This invention relates to pellet guns. A typical pellet gun has a delivery mechanism by which a pellet as required is fed into the path of an hammer which upon firing, propels it along the barrel for discharge. The hammer is activated by the trigger; the delivery mechanism can be a simple gravity feed. Pellets are normally stored in a magazine mounted on the body of the gun over the barrel.
The present invention is concerned with the provision of an automatic firing mechanism in a pellet gun and means for assuring proper sequential delivery of pellets to a firing position. A toy gun according to the invention has a barrel extending from a gun body; an hand grip attached to the body adjacent a trigger for actuating a firing mechanism mounted in the gun body; and means for delivering pellets seriatim to substantially the same point in the barrel for firing. The firing mechanism comprises a firing hammer reciprocally movable along the barrel post said point to strike and discharge a said pellet from the barrel in its forward stroke; resilient means continuously biasing the hammer to a forward position in the barrel; and a drive mechanism for cyclically withdrawing the hammer against the force of the resilient means and releasing same, the trigger being selectively operable to activate the drive means. The firing hammer is preferably resiliently biased by means of a leaf spring which extends through a slot in the barrel wall.
The preferred drive means comprises a cam follower reciprocally movable along a path parallel to the axis of the barrel, and pivotable between a first orientation in which it is coupled to the hammer to effect withdrawal thereof against the resilient means, and a second orientation at which the hammer is released; and a cam surface for pivotting the cam follower from its first to its second orientation with the hammer at a rearward position in the barrel. The cam follower may have a shoulder selectively engageable with the spring to effect withdrawal of the hammer.
In another preferred feature, the drive means comprises a rotatable pinion with at least one post mounted eccentrically thereon, said post engaging an arm to effect reciprocal movement thereof, the arm being coupled to the hammer to withdraw same against the force of the resilient means. The pinion may carry two posts mounted on a common diameter, the arm including a portion extending perpendicularly to the axis of the barrel, being movable parallel to said axis, and being continuously biased forwardly thereof. Alternate engagement of the posts with this portion cyclically withdraws the arm and hammer rearwardly with respect to the barrel. Typically, an electric motor powered from batteries in the gun provides the requisite continuous movement, the trigger operating an electric switch to actuate same.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention a toy gun for firing pellets has a barrel extending forwardly from a gun body; an hand grip attached to the body adjacent a trigger for actuating a firing mechanism mounted in the gun body; and a magazine for a supply of pellets comprising a plurality of discrete sections each for confining a column of pellets, the magazine being mounted on the body with the lower end of each section being closed by a surface on the gun body, the magazine being slideable with respect to the gun body to selectively locate the base of any one section over an aperture in the gun barrel and release pellets seriatim from a respective column to a firing point in the gun barrel, the firing mechanism including an hammer and drive means for cyclically advancing and retracting the hammer through said point to fire a pellet from the barrel.
In order to prevent forward movement of a pellet from the firing point in advance of impact with the hammer, resilient means may be included which are sufficient to restrain such movement but insufficient to impede passage of such a pellet after impact with the hammer. A gate coupled to movement of the hammer may perform the same function.
The invention offers a toy gun which can effectively simulate repeated fire of pellets using a simple mechanism which is either activated or dormant. The supply of pellets for firing is controlled, and the availability thereof made readily visable by the provision of a transparent plate covering one side of the magazine. The principle parts of the gun can be moulded in plastics materials, and manufacture and assembly is quite straight forward.